Nitrogen-doped SiO2–HNb3O8 for rhodamine B photodegradation under visible light

Silica-pillared and non-pillared HNb3O8 samples were doped with nitrogen for rhodamine B photodegradation under visible light irradiation. The results indicate that silica pillaring could have significant impacts on the photocatalytic activity of the HNb3O8 sample. With expanded interlayer spacing and stronger adsorption ability to dye molecules, the SiO2 pillared and nitrogen-doped HNb3O8 sample performed much better than the non-pillared counterpart. The characteristics of samples were investigated by techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM. The relationships between catalyst structure and performance were discussed.

► Nitrogen-doped SiO2–HNb3O8 possesses expanded interlayer spacing.
► Nitrogen-doped SiO2–HNb3O8 has stronger adsorption ability to RhB.
► Nitrogen-doped SiO2–HNb3O8 performed much better than the non-pillared counterpart.